Liven Up Your Virtual Meeting Rooms and Physical Meeting Spaces

Virtual Meeting Room TOOtheLOUNGE Seating

Step away from the same old environments and change up both you virtual meeting room and physical meeting spaces to keep your team engaged. Freshen up your in-office environment and your online world.

Think about it this way.

Got Zoom fatigue from too many online meetings? You might not get it with in-house staff who are full-time because you’re often meeting face-to-face. But you might still need to have online meetings with remote workers, clients, and vendors.

Don’t forget that you’ll also have training sessions if you need to be updated on new technologies or brief your team on compliance issues for your industry.

When you’re meeting virtually with teams and addressing people who have different roles and functions, then you’ll benefit from having online meeting spaces that reflect an in-person experience.

The Virtual Meeting Room Environment

There are virtual meeting spaces designed to appear on-screen like an actual office environment. You’ll see avatars at open benching solutions or cubicles in bright colors and you can easily move from a general meeting space to one-on-one chats.

Use interactive elements like YouTube videos and virtual whiteboards for jotting notes. Your virtual meeting room should be designed to keep the attention of attendees.

Now let’s look at your physical meeting space, too.


Photo: OFS Intermix Collaborative Table

The Physical Meeting Space Environment

Host from a comfortable in-house office space designed for teleconferencing and then connect with remote workers using their mobile phones, laptops, or desktops. Use furniture with integrated technology and connection portals.

Get inspired by what your conferencing center can look like. Check the 2010 Office Furniture’s Inspiration Page for Modern Conference Room and Meeting Spaces.


Photo: Source Scape Lounge

Liven up the dreary and stiff meeting spaces and create an atmosphere that opens people up to collaboration. Who says meeting spaces need four physical walls?


Photo: OFS Obeya Architectural Structure

Imagine a meeting space with a large monitor on a wall for easy viewing of video presentations with another wall used as a whiteboard. Another side of the space has a translucent architectural wall that lets light flow in while keeping the sound within the meeting area.

Making the Virtual Meeting and Physical Space Work

A dedicated physical or virtual meeting room is only one part of having a successful meeting. Set the proper expectations.

Create a positive meeting experience using protocols and the right technologies that support your goals. Send out key points of an agenda and, if appropriate, have people pre-meet to discuss the points and suggest courses of action.

Open a meeting with a brief personal check-in, especially with remote workers who don’t get much “water cooler” time in the corporate office. This breaks the ice and can foster positive communication. A minute or two for personal sharing can build bonds.

Keep people focused on the agenda, so don’t allow multitasking.

A virtual meeting space that simulate a live office environment provide a sense of realism and depth. The way we interact online is still different than if we were in person since picking up cues from body language isn’t as noticeable on a computer monitor or smartphone screen.

So wait for others to finish, and speak slowly when it’s your turn. Use icons to signify that your hand is raised.


Photo: Arcadia Avelina Table

For training sessions, use a well-designed virtual meeting space on a large screen. A larger conference table is a solution, but don’t crowd people so they’re uncomfortable.


Photo: DARRAN Bota Table

Try using individual tables or small groups of a few people per table if the topic requires note-taking and interaction with co-workers.


Photo: OFS Applause Table

Use Different Space Sizes

Step out of the same old meeting room by varying the space sizes. Use huddle spaces for up-close conversations. A style like the Encore Hado Lounge Seating can provide comfort and keep you at ease. Use a nesting table that can be easily removed when not needed.

Put your breakroom to strategic use with booths and seating solutions that offer some privacy.

The ERG International Laguna Lounge Seating arrangement is perfect for meeting over coffee or lunch. It’s designed so the conversation is channeled and has power management tools so you can stay connected, especially for your virtual meeting room.

Design a Home-Style Meeting Space

Get the durability of commercial furnishings with the comfort of home-like fabrics and colors. Create a resimercial meeting space with the Arcadia TOOtheLOUNGE Seating. The TOOthe LOUNGE can be configured for one person or can accommodate several people.

Want more ideas on relaxed meeting and working spaces? Check the Resimercial Office design on 2010 Office Furniture’s Inspiration page.

Stay Current with 2010 Office Furniture

Stay up-to-date with trends in planning office spaces and furnishing the office environment. Connect with the team at 2010 Office Furniture for input on your project.

The 2010 Office Furniture team has more than 50 years of combined experience advising and sourcing furniture for clients who are among Southern California’s most distinguished corporations, nonprofits, and small businesses.  Let their experts help you design and create your next virtual meeting room or physical meeting space!

Read Also: Staying Productive with an Effort for Holistic Office Wellness
Main Photo: Arcadia TOOtheLOUNGE Seating
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Arcadia, DARRAN, OFS & Source

Your Guide to the Best Training Furniture for the Office

Your Guide to the Best Training Furniture OFS Maren Chairs

You need employees to learn new products, review sales procedures, or keep certifications and licenses current. Bringing everyone together for training is the answer.  And it’s important to consider the best training furniture that will work for you and your company.

This raises questions like what type of desks, tables and chairs are best?

All office needs require planning the space to know what furnishings are best. Let’s plan and equip a training area.

Know Your Goals and Needs for Training Spaces

Let’s look at basic fundmentals like why you need a training area, and how often trainings are expected to occur. Will the set-up be permanent, and can the room be used for other purposes?

Keep this in mind: you want information to flow easily between the presenters and attendees.

Is there a set-up that’s best?

The answer is whatever helps your team learn, retain, and put to use what they’ve seen and heard.

Training in companies and larger corporations usually happens in classroom settings with desks and chairs set up in rows, just like school. Create an atmosphere that’s more relatable where employees can work in smaller groups and tables can be arranged to face each other.

Check products like the Krug Revo Training Table that’s easy to reconfigure. Have groups of five or six together in a huddle, or circular seating, to solve customer problems or get insights on new products.


Photo: Krug Revo Table

If space is tight, then consider tables that fold, have sturdy casters, and can be easily rolled to a storage area or one side of the room.

Once your purpose and needs are clearly established, then you can choose the furnishings.

How Training Furniture is Unique

Most tables and chairs used for training purposes have a distinct look and function that’s clearly different from executive desks and workstations. Check out the many options available for conference tables.

This is fine if your office schedules regular trainings for clients or employees.

But if bringing people together only happens occasionally then use tables like the Desk Makers Training Table that can double as an everyday work surface.


Photo: Deskmakers Newport Training Table

 

Photo: Krug Nuvo Conference Table

For some, conference tables can also be the best solution for employee training purposes.  The conference room by nature brings people together to facilitate sharing and exchange of information and ideas.  It’s very common that conference rooms double as training rooms for many companies.  For ideas on what may work for your company and office culture, you can explore options for conference tables.

And who says tables have to be boring or only have one primary use?

Check out the Scale 1:1 Nomad Conference Table that:

  • Is useful for trainings
  • Is useful for conferencing
  • Serves as a whiteboard
  • And offers a surface for social activities like a Ping-pong match

Photo: Scale 1:1 Nomad Conference Table

Best Ways to Arrange Training Furniture

If you have a dedicated corporate classroom, then you’re set. But if you don’t, get creative with how you set up the furnishings.

Common arrangements cited in Room Arrangements for Training Sessions in the dummies series are:

  • Single square or round tables
  • Conference tables
  • Classroom style with an aisle between tables or surfaces for long rows
  • Clusters of round or rectangular tables
  • V-shape
  • U-shape

According to the author, u-shape arrangements are good for groups of 12 to 22, while conference seating is good for about 8 to 12 people.

Table clusters can be used for 16 to 40 attendees.


Photo: Arcadia Flirt Chair

Revisit Your Goals and Available Space

Training sessions will often tackle different topics, so decide how you want your team to respond.

Will your team be focused with eyes toward the front with little or no small group interaction? If so, then tables and chairs can be arranged in rows or at angles with the right proportions that fit the room.

Do you expect break-out sessions, or will small groups stay in huddles throughout the training?

Who says training furniture has to fit a specific mold?  Sometimes the best training furniture don’t.

Certain types of lounge seating options can bring a focus that traditional tables and chairs won’t be able to do. A u-shaped solution like the Rouillard Blok Lounge Seating gives attendees a view forward while making it easy to stay together and learn or brainstorm ideas.

Keep in Mind

Choose your office furnishings to support and aid your staff, whether that’s selecting workstations, break room equipment, or training tables. Know the various ways people learn so you can bring out their best with the tables, chairs and how they’re arranged.

Your Guide to the Best Training Furniture Allermuir Kin Chair
Photo: Allermuir Kin Chairs

We’re Here to Help

Get further advice on the best training furniture as well as space planning and design for your office and home office needs. The team at 2010 Office Furniture has more than 50 years of combined experience providing the right equipment and laying out spaces for maximum productivity.

2010 Office Furniture’s clients are leading corporations, universities, and small businesses in the greater Los Angeles area, Orange County, and the Inland Empire.

Contact us with your questions and office needs.

 

Read Also: How To Set Up An Office Space
Main Photo: OFS Maren Chairs
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Allermuir, Arcadia, Deskmakers, Krug & Scale 1:1